New Year’s is a natural changing of the guard. The calendar change adds another year of hopes, and sometimes, regrets.

This especially reverberates in the fight game, where combatants extend – or perhaps shorten – years of history 15 to 25 minutes or less at a time. The UFC has largely carried MMA’s rich New Year’s tradition for the past six years. A significant portion of the UFC’s memorable moments can be found in this reoccurring fight event, which has run for roughly a third of the octagon’s life.

Ahead of the latest installment, UFC 155 on Dec. 29 from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) toasts to the 10 best instances of professional sporting violence that have rung in the UFC’s new year.

10. Rashad Evans def. Forrest Griffin – UFC 92 (Dec. 27, 2008)

Rashad Evans became the second winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” to go from the reality TV show to the UFC to the belt when he stopped the first, Forrest Griffin, with second-round punches. “Suga” nailed Griffin with ground and pound to reach the top of the division for the first time. He’s been a title-picture staple ever since, which has made him a top-10 draw in the company, according to UFC President Dana White.

9. Quinton Jackson def. Wanderlei Silva – UFC 92 (Dec. 27, 2008)

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson had plenty of Wanderlei Silva-related demons to exercise going into their third fight. He lost – and lost ugly – to the Brazilian’s knees twice in PRIDE in what would be two of the organization’s most anticipated and violent title contests in its decade-long existence. With a controversial belt drop to Forrest Griffin prior to the third Silva match, Jackson had little breathing room. A first-round left hook from the former UFC light-heavyweight champion left Silva supine, unable to remember the finishes the former PRIDE champion held over “Rampage” or the one he just endured.

8. Johny Hendricks def. Jon Fitch – UFC 141 (Dec. 30, 2011)

Johny Hendricks needed just 12 seconds to deliver Jon Fitch the first knockout loss of his seven-year career. It was a highly audible left hook. In doing what champion Georges St-Pierre couldn’t do in 25 minutes, the former Division I national wrestling champion’s Texas-sized KO let the MMA world hear his name loud and clear. The highlight was one of the year’s most impressive as “Bigg Rigg” scored a “Knockout of the Night” bonus worth $75,000.

7. Nate Diaz def. Donald Cerrone – UFC 141 (Dec. 30, 2011)

UFC 141’s “Fight of the Night” featured Nate Diaz landing a record amount of strikes for a 15-minute contest on Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The Stockton, Calif. native took a game WEC veteran out of his element with 258 punches landed at an 82-percent accuracy rate. It was high-octane, toe-to-toe action perfect for ringing in the new year and a can’t-ignore “Fight of the Year” candidate in 2011.

6. Georges St-Pierre def. Matt Hughes III – UFC 79 (Dec. 29, 2007)

The changing of the welterweight guard wasn’t complete until Georges St-Pierre came full circle and submitted Matt Hughes in their final contest via armbar, the way Hughes finished him three years prior in their first meeting (and had no problem jabbing him about). St-Pierre dominated Hughes on short notice and pried the longtime champion from the division’s greatest-of-all-time status with back-to-back finishes to settle the trilogy.

5. Frank Mir def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira I – UFC 92 (Dec. 27, 2008)

Former UFC heavyweight titleholder Frank Mir ended the legendary resilience of Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira for the first time in the former PRIDE champion’s history. The UFC’s interim title stayed in Las Vegas with hometown boy Mir. It was a new chapter of Mir’s comeback from a career-threatening motorcycle accident – a defining victory for a future UFC Hall of Fame inductee, complete with an inspirational, life-affirming speech about achieving against the odds.

4. Chuck Liddell def. Tito Ortiz II – UFC 66 (Dec. 30, 2006)

The UFC’s first million-buy pay-per-view event came from two light-heavyweight champions in their second contest. Their first bout centered on the claim Tito Ortiz ducked Chuck Liddell to hold on to his light-heavyweight belt longer. Randy Couture’s wins over Liddell and Ortiz rendered Liddell-Ortiz I in 2004 a non-title affair. The rematch featured Liddell’s belt on the line and kicked off the UFC’s New Year’s Eve tradition, running six years strong from this fight. It was the peak for Liddell – and his final night exiting the cage as champion.

3. Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez II – UFC 155 (Dec. 29, 2012)

Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez reek of rivalry. To look at either and say, “baddest man on the planet,” is correct. That, along with the heavyweight crown, is at stake at UFC 155 later this week. More to the point: Whoever wins out between Dos Santos and Velasquez potentially emerges the greatest heavyweight of all-time.

They are a combined 17-1 inside the octagon. The lone loss is Velasquez falling in 64 seconds, dethroned by Dos Santos’ destructive overhand right 13 months ago. It delivered a memorable finish yet fell short of clash-of-the-titans expectations simply because they stand out as heavyweights who are capable of going the full 25 minutes. The writing, however, was on the wall: They have 10 UFC first-round finishes between them.

They are the heavyweights the UFC always wanted: real fighters with international appeal, the signature allure behind the greatest prize in combat sports. The chances for longtime rivalry decreases without a 1-1 score, so it’s up to the challenger Velasquez to return the favor and hand Dos Santos his first UFC defeat, which would block the champion from achieving a 10-fight UFC win streak and tying the divisional record for consecutive title defenses (two).

2. Chuck Liddell def. Wanderlei Silva – UFC 79 (Dec. 29, 2007)

The greatest 205-pound fighters of their era met amid the first consecutive losses in their legendary careers. Only one organization-defining star – Chuck Liddell for the UFC, Wanderlei Silva for PRIDE – could get back on the winning track; the other would suffer a three-fight skid. After years of high-end highlights, both fighters had their reputations on the line.

For 15 minutes, the years-in-the-making contest lived up its hype even if wasn’t “The Iceman” and “The Axe Murderer” in their prime. Liddell held his home turf with a unanimous-decision win in perhaps the most anticipated non-title fight in UFC history.

In their first bout for the lightweight title, champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard illuminated what a world-class 25-minute championship bout entails. Competitive emotions are best expressed in a three-act mortality play. That was Edgar-Maynard II: first act 10 minutes, second act 10 minutes, final act five minutes. It was 25 heartfelt minutes doing whatever it takes to win.

“The Bully” nearly ripped Edgar’s gold away from him in the opening frame, and he battered the New Jersey native around the cage for a heavy-handed 10-8 round on all three scorecards. But Edgar willed himself through a damaged haze to take over the fight, which remained competitive to the final bell. It resulted in a justifiable split draw – one of the most prominent instances of accurate scoring in UFC history.

The top of the sport is decided by the smallest margins. No fight illustrates that better than the second tangle between Edgar and Maynard.

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